


Drifting Away

by Astre_Red



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, One Piece
Genre: Broken Bond, Cloud!Usopp, Dying Will Flames (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Gen, Harmony - Freeform, Sky!Luffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astre_Red/pseuds/Astre_Red
Summary: Usopp leaves the crew behind with rage in his heart and with fire in his eyes. He leaves bleeding and wondering if all of this was worth it.(Something in him shifts, broken beyond repair.)
Relationships: Franky & Usopp (One Piece), Heracles & Usopp (One Piece), Monkey D. Luffy & Usopp
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Drifting Away

Luffy decides to abandon Merry. He wants to abandon a nakama, someone who is theirs, who is _his_ , and Usopp feels something in him rages, something deep and buried and forgotten but here.

Usopp leaves the crew behind with rage in his heart and with fire in his eyes. He leaves bleeding and wondering if all of this was worth it.

He leaves, and neither him or Luffy look back.

(Something in him shifts, broken beyond repair.)

* * *

It doesn't take long to notice that something is off.

He's busy fixing Merry and his injuries, and does his best to keep his mind off what happened, but it's not enough. Ignoring it doesn't work, and eventually his headache and nausea force him to sit and think.

He feels cold, in a way he never was before. It's not the kind of cold which can disappears with a few blankets. It's a cold deep inside him, and Usopp realizes that, in this dock where he works on Merry, the sun reaches and should make the weather almost unbearably hot. But he is cold.

Usopp feels so very cold.

He doesn't know what it means, but he still feels his heart sink.

* * *

Franky comes to see him in the midst of despair and worry. He lets Usopp rumble about boats fixing themselves and ghosts. He stays quiet until he's finished, and then starts talking about Klabautermann and an impossible love and friendship. Usopp is crying by the end of it, from happiness or sadness, but Franky isn't quite finished.

“You okay? You look pale.”

Usopp sends him a flat look, and Franky winces before saying.

“Not like this! Like... _Different_.”

“I feel cold.” Usopp answers, and expects him to stop there. But Franky frowns, a strange glint in his eyes.

“Since when?” he asks, and Usopp blinks before whispering.

“Since the fight with Luffy.”

He's not sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn't the shock and fear on Franky's face.

“Are you sure?” he asks, and he seems a bit frantic, like he wants to hear Usopp say no.

“Yes.” he says, and Fanky goes ten times paler. He stays silent for a long time, staring at Usopp until it becomes really awkward, and slowly speaks.

“Tom used to tell me things, about Skys and guardians.”

* * *

Franky tells him stories about elements, about flames and souls. He talks about bonds and harmony, and the Sky who accepts them all.

Usopp doesn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he does neither.

“You think I'm broken.” he says once the other is finished, and he flinches.

“Maybe not you. But if Mugiwara was your Sky, then your bond definitely is.”

“But what does that mean?” he asks, unsure, and Franky hesitates.

“I'm not sure, but I don't think it's good.”

* * *

Enies Lobby happens, and Usopp doesn't have the time to think about broken bonds and cold soul. He has a friend to save, but the idea to face his old captain -Sky?- scares him, so he hides behind a mask and a loud voice. But the cold follows him.

Merry burns under his eyes, and he wants to scream, to rage, but all he can do is cry. It's all he ever does anyway, he can't help but think bitterly.

He cries and cries and hates, just a bit, because she was his and now she's gone.

They go back to Water Seven, and Usopp hides. Franky comes often to check on him, worry hidden behind a frown.

“Don't tell anyone.” he begs once Franky sees him shaking without reason, face white, “Don't tell _him_.”

Franky accepts reluctantly, but still comes to visit him even though Usopp knows he's working on another ship for them. He tries not to feel bitter.

Sometimes, when he looks at his reflection in the water or anywhere really, his eyes seem to shine purple. But when he tries to invoke the flames Franky told him about, all he feels is coldness.

He doesn't try again.

Eventually, he's back with them, with him, but it's different. He doesn't know why, but he knows it is. Even when Luffy slings an arm around his shoulder or laughs or listen to his stories, it's not the same. He doesn't feel bad or ill like he did back in Water Seven, but he still feels wrong somehow.

Usopp is always cold now.

Franky asks him questions at first when they're alone in their workshops.

“Are you okay now?”

Usopp doesn't say anything, and it's answer enough.

“You were right, I think.” he admits days later, “Luffy was my Sky. But he's not anymore.”

Franky looks worried. He talks about broken bonds and madness and despair, but Usopp shakes his head.

“I'm not strong enough to go crazy.” he laughs, but it's hollow.

At night, when everyone sleep, Usopp wonders if he'll ever find another Sky. The simple idea disgusts him, because no one can ever replace what Luffy once was to him, what he still is despite everything.

_Besides_ , he thinks wryly, _no one would want a broken Cloud_.

The cold never goes away, but he becomes used to it.

* * *

Thriller Bark and the Saboady Archipelago happen and he barely has time to think about it. Suddenly he's alone, his captain in mourning because none of them were there. Now he has two years to make sure it never happens again, and he's not going to waste it.

Heracles is a blessing and an amazing teacher. After a few days he corners Usopp and brutally asks.

“You're a Cloud, right?”

Upon seeing his shock, Heracles explains that, when travelling around the world, he met others who were “active”, as he calls it.

“But you don't feel active. You're present, yet not.” he adds, frowning under his helmet.

“Oh.” Usopp says, before remembering Franky's words, “That's because the bond I had with my Sky broke.”

“ _WHAT!!!!????_ ”

Usopp startles when hearing his friend's scream, but Heracles grabs his shoulders and shakes him before he can react.

“How? Are you okay? I'm a Sun so if there is anything I can try-”

“He-Heracles-”

It takes a few minutes to convince him to let go, and Usopp breathes before saying.

“It happened months ago, so don't worry.”

He thought it would reassure his teacher, but that doesn't seem to lessen his worries.

“I heard things, and I saw people going crazy when their Sky died or left.” Heracles explains later when eating, “Your bond must have been strong if you felt it this much even though you're not active.”

He stays silent, and stares at his student.

“If you had been active...” he trails off, but Usopp understands.

Heracles shows him his flames, and Usopp is fascinated. But no matter how hard he tries, like in Water Seven, his flames don't appear even if Heracles tells him his eyes became purple for a short time.

“I'm really broken.” he whispers, and Heracles doesn't contradict him.

If anything, his training becomes even harsher. When the two years pass and he's back with his crew, he smiles and laughs and can almost pretend that everything is fine.

(The cold doesn't go away. It never will.)

**Author's Note:**

> This came from reading too many Skull fics and One Piece/KHR fics and wondering how it would have affected the Strawhats had they been bonded.
> 
> In short, while none of them were flames active, they still formed a strong bond which violently broke at Water Seven, and only Usopp felt it because Luffy still had his other guardians, so he was far less touched. So now Usopp has to deal with a broken bond and a damaged soul.
> 
> Also, Usopp is a Cloud and I will die with this headcanon.
> 
> I hope you liked it! Tell me in the comments


End file.
